Rain in the Playground
by slopes
Summary: She'd been making dolls all week, praying for a special sunny day.
1. Don't Play with Her

_AN: Sorry for posting this without a good proofread...that's my own embarrassment! _

_DISCLAIMER: I own nothing with Fairy Tail, give the credit to Hiro Mashima. _

**Juvia is a pretty awesome character in my opinion. She's a strong, crazy, funny girl. Even her fangirl obsessions are more comedic than annoying. I just started wondering what it would be like for her to grow up, always hearing people complain about 'gloomy weather' and named the 'rain woman' and had to write this down.  
**

**I wasn't able to find any similar stories on here, and really wanted to read something sad like this.**

Saturdays meant no classes, which meant children could play. Juvia had spent every night that week increasing her collection of teru teru bozu dolls so that she could have this day. The ritual book originally said the dolls should be made the night before the day one hoped for good weather, but she already tried that and had bad luck. Maybe, these spells took longer to have an effect. This time, she had left the dolls from Monday through Thursday hanging.

Last night, she added her final largest batch of seven, making a total of eleven dolls dangling on wood splinters outside her window. Then she said the prayer from the book, asking the god's of fine weather to clean the skies tomorrow, and fell asleep. It started off as a long night, with excitement boiling in her veins. Juvia had woken up countless times, eyes immediately shooting to the window. She would hear a small patter, and see the streams of water on the glass, and then force her disappointed eyes closed till she fell back into dreams. Because, it was still late, and by morning surely the rain would stop.

The panic began when the clouds started to lighten in hue and the rain kept coming down as normally as ever. She forced herself back to sleep once more, this time clutching her chest as if to hold in the hope.

For extra measure, Juvia also pulled her covers over her head. The sound of the nonstop rain making her heart pound; if she did not block it out, there would be no more sleep that morning.

A little later, she woke again, and this time the sky was a swirl of light and dark grays, but sadly still crying. The dolls had failed once more.

The girl had sat in bed for awhile, clenching the blankets, staring dejectedly at her formerly trusted creations. They all hung limp, drenched, looking miserable.

Well, they deserved it, she thought, and then guiltily forgave them. The dolls were not to blame; they were supposed to ward off regular rainstorms. This was probably far too difficult a task to put on their heads. She frowned.

Her plan was to go to the park, to play with all the other kids, and then lie down in the grass and look at the sun. It'd never been out in her life, but today was supposed to be the special day.

She had even dug into her pile of old clothes, and picked out a brand new spaghetti top, shorts, sandals and sunglasses, having never had the chance to wear them. It looked like that chance would stay on the bucket list.

Another day, she told herself. Tomorrow always came, at some point the rain would have to stop. She could try the teru teru bozu dolls again, this time find a stronger spell.

Scrambling out of bed, Juvia wobbled lazily toward the window, and pried the heavy wood frame up. She began plucking the dolls like fruit on a tree, giving a short sweet thank you to each soggy face, before tucking them into her arms. After closing the window, the little things went into a small pile of older, ratty, water ruined similar creations.

Juvia dressed in the usual long sleeved pink shirt, jeans, blue raincoat and hat. The special outfit she set into a box which got shoved carefully under her bed. She did this so she would not have to scuba dive in the back of her closet when the weather finally did clear.

Then, Juvia snuck out of the house before anyone could see and stop her. Just because it was Saturday did not mean easy freedom; there were always chores, no matter how many she did, and homework, and if that was finished, then studying. Really the adults only meant to keep her inside. Still, she found her ways, learned to be quiet and to sneak through the kitchen without getting caught.

Nobody she passed on the sidewalk asked why she was out alone. The adults did not even acknowledged her, except for a few who grimaced. At one time, this bothered her deeply, because she did not think it was fair for them to dislike her without ever meeting. Experience though nulled the sharp stabs in her gut. She was the Rain Child, after all, people were sort of right to blame her for the gloomy weather.

Juvia let the looks and lack of attention slide over her shoulder, playing 'don't step on the crack', a game her classmate Nala had taught her. It was mostly easy, except for where the sidewalk was broken into a bunch of spider web like lines, or when distracted. The punishment was supposed to be that landing on a crack broke her best friend's back. It was a fake rule, because no one would ever play that game if it really could hurt their friend.

The park was a place in the middle of the city where no one could build houses or stores, and people went to take strolls or admire flowers. The playground was made especially for young children, though some older kids showed up there too, every now and then. A metal crosshatched fence made a grassy pen, with swings, two slides, two jungle gyms, a toy ship, and sand box inside. Usually, there were three or four other children there even in the rain. When Juvia arrived, she immediately picked out Correy, a stumpy boy from her school in second grade, the grade above her, and two other kids whom she thought she had seen there once or twice before.

They were running around on the jungle gym, screaming and laughing. Juvia's own eyes lit up in excitement and she raced over to find out the name of the game. Dragon tag, they told her. Whoever was it was a dragon and could fly anywhere in the playground, while the people running away had to stay on the jungle gyms.

Correy had been unhappy to let her join, saying his mom did not think it was good for him to play with her. This had hurt Juvia's feelings, but the other two boys told Correy that the game worked much better with four people than three. Juvia nearly forgot about the initial painful rejection, because in the end they played together. No adults were around to tell her to scram, or go back inside and keep the rain away from them.

Not until Correy's mom came by a few minutes later. She was rushing, with an umbrella in her hand, long blond hair up in the air, and the type of high heeled boots that clicked.

"Correy Finnigan! Correy Finnigan!" She had yelled from the gate, "You knew you were supposed to come home the instant it started raining! If I so much as see that…"

She trailed off when her eyes found her son, his playmates, and particularly the blue haired girl. A deeper scowl replaced her general upset, and before any of the kids could figure out what was going on, Mrs. Finnigan had marched right up to their motley group. She grabbed her son's hand, looked at the other two boys, but plainly ignored Juvia. The young girl just kept quiet, and watched with a slightly confused face.

It was only slightly confused, because she knew how these talks went.

"You all should know that this gloomy weather is bad for your health. Now go home before you catch a cold from this ameonna." She nudged her head in Juvia's direction, scoffing as if she was some sort of bad seed.

Her two playmates looked between her and Mrs. Finnigan, not understanding, but then must have decided it was best to listen to the adult. They began running away without even saying goodbye, and Mrs. Finnigan finally turned on Juvia, still dragging Correy around by the arm.

Juvia regretted not running away with the boys then, or rather even coming to the park that morning. The woman's glare was terrifying.

"And you, I will not have you playing with me son, understand? Keep your devil tricks and foul weather away from the children in this town. They are ours, and we will defend them from your dark sorcery."

Juvia kept her lips closed and nodded, despite the pounding fear in her chest, and the watery heat in her eyes. These sorts of things were over quicker if she did not talk back.

She was right, Mrs. Finnigan took her son home, scolding him for disobeying her, not knowing that he had in fact tried to do what he had been told at first. Again, Juvia was not going to defend him, in case it gave his mother another reason to start on her. With her three friends gone, she was left alone at the playground.

Juvia did not really feel like playing anymore though.

Mrs. Finnigan's mean voice still made her chest throb, and she knew it wasn't the first or the last time. Not wanting to play, yet not ready to go home to more scolds, Juvia went and sat on a swing. She rocked in a slow pathetic pattern as the rain increased and drowned out her unhappiness.

* * *

_That was fun, but now its done, so maybe I'll do another one._

_My head is thinking pretty simple right now._


	2. School Dismissal

Juvia was standing on the school steps, listening to the pitter patter on her pink umbrella. Each droplet echoed a solid plunk, like a knock on a door asking to be let inside. Not here, she'd silently answer, the corner of her eye catching shadows of the rejected water through the pink fabric. The droplets slid down and fell away from the umbrella's edges, causing a small stirring in her stomach.

Juvia has to stay dry, she tried to tell it in thought, she would be going home soon.

Half of the first grade stood with her, scattered in groups around the steps, huddling underneath their own umbrellas. They chattered and bragged and gossiped to each other, making good use of the free time before their parents arrived. In the school yard, stood a handful of younger students, those dismissed earliest, but whose pick up had not yet arrived. Juvia did not know any of them, as they weren't in her grade, nor did she have any younger siblings. She glanced back at the gates, through the crowd of adult faces, remembering some as parents of so and so.

She did not talk with any of the other classmates, or rather they did not talk to her. Still, she could here some of them muttering things. The group of girls on the steps above were making plans to go swimming in the town over, one of them saying the weather would not be so gloomy and wet. At these words, Juvia shifted her umbrella to block the sight of her and distracted herself with watching parents and guardians sweep off their children.

Some families held hands as they left through a second set of exit gates. Some adults just listened and smiled as their kid showed off a new art project. Some patted their child's head. A few were unhappily dragging kids brave enough to have temper tantrums in front of the whole school.

Juvia wanted any of it, all of it.

When all the parents of her class had come through, leaving four remainders and Juvia, they were shuffled to the yard with the other students, and the second grade was brought out. This process continued for a while, with each grade. The yard pile diminished too, as late apologetic parents finally showed. Juvia kept patient and silent, mesmerized by the parent and child scenes, wondering just what it must feel like to have someone's attention. Not that she never got attention, just, there was something different between hers and the other school children.

Finally, dismissals ended, and barely a classroom's number was left still waiting. It was then that the check in line teacher noticed Juvia. He frowned in confusion, and called her out amongst the crowd. At the beckon, the little rain child cringed, but she stepped forward anyways.

"Juvia. You shouldn't be staying around when school's ended, it's rude to children whose guardians are late." The teacher admonished. "You have permission to check out yourself, now go home."

It was true. Juvia was lucky. She had a special note that said it was ok for her to leave on her own. She did not have to wait around for or rely on anyone to come for her. Yet, she liked watching the other children and their parents. She learned a lot about families that way

There was heavy weight on her shoulders, and Juvia could just tell that the rest of the yard was looking at her. Her classmates, the younger students, the older students: they were probably wondering why the strange rain girl had stayed late again. There was no easy answer to explain it; Juvia just did it because it was something she preferred. The show was over now though, there wasn't a steady stream of parents anymore. And even though the last delayed pickups were some of the best to watch, the teachers did not want her sticking around.

Hitching her backpack a little further up on her shoulder, and straightening the umbrella over her head. She nodded to the man, and wished him a good evening. She was lucky, Juvia reminded herself. Few children in her grade were allowed to just leave whenever they wanted.

Still, as she walked through the gates, her free hand was moving, clenching and unclenching, as if looking for something to take in its hold.

* * *

_Thank you for the first review! Let's get some more Juvia on . :)_

_Also, as I do not know Juvia's parents' situation (I read somewhere that they are deceased, but there was no information on how or when) I tried to keep vague on that subject. This alludes to a lack of family bonds in her childhood, but doesn't actually say whether Juvia's parents are in her life or not. _

_Enjoy!_


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